A long-lost moon rock given to the state of Louisiana in 1972 has been returned by a Florida man who purchased it at a garage sale some 15 years ago.
The lunar sample was collected during the Apollo 17 mission, which included NASA astronauts Harrison Schmitt, Ronald Evans and Gene Cernan.
The moon rock, encased in a small lucite ball, is mounted on a wooden plaque, which the Florida man intended to use to replace his damaged gunstocks.
'I can't even tell you how long I owned it for,' the man, who asked not to be named, told CollectSPACE.
'I'm not even sure how much I paid for it. I buy plaques because I take the wood from the plaques and I send it over to my gunstock guy and he makes grips for my Colts and so forth.'
The moon rock, encased in a small lucite ball, is mounted on a wooden plaque, which the Florida man intended to use to replace his damaged gunstocks
The lunar fragment is one of hundreds presented to states, territories and foreign nations in the early to mid-1970s by the administration of former President Richard Nixon.
However, many of the samples have since gone missing or have been stolen.
The Apollo 17 sample was returned to Louisiana last year, but the event was only announced this week by the Louisiana State Museum that also said it is not clear how the relic went missing.
Louisiana State Museum interim director Steven Maklansky told CollectSPACE that the museum does not intend to open an investigation into how the rock went missing.
Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan (right) and Harrison Schmitt dedicate the goodwill moon rock in December 1972
'As you can appreciate, I'm just happy that it is here now,' Maklansky told the Associated Press.
The Florida man rediscovered the plaque in his collection while looking for a particular wood for a gun repair.
The plaque includes the names of the Apollo 17 astronauts, along with text that reads: 'This fragment is a portion of a rock from Taurus Littrow Valley of the Moon. It was part of a larger rock composed of many particles of different shapes and sizes, a symbol of the unity of human endeavor and mankind's hope for a future of peace and harmony,' a metal plate affixed below the lucite-encased moon rock reads.'
There is also an image of the Louisiana state flag on the plaque.
'This flag of your state was carried to the Moon aboard Spacecraft America during the Apollo XVII mission, December 7-19, 1972,' a second metal plate reads.
The Apollo 17 mission was last time NASA went to the moon, however the American space agency is looking to return by 2024
'Presented to the people of the state of Louisiana by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.'
Throughout the six Apollo lunar landing missions, 842 pounds of moon rocks and soil were taken back to Earth and many of them were gifted to different US states.
The Apollo 17 mission was last time NASA went to the moon, however the American space agency is looking to return by 2024.
The mission, dubbed Artemis, will see not just the next man but also the first woman put boots on the lunar surface.
Another moon rock collected by the Apollo 17 crew is currently on display inside the White House's Oval Office.
The small boulder held by a metal clamp and encased in glass, sits located on a bookshelf that features items intended to remind Americans of the ambition and accomplishments of earlier generations.
NASA loaned the moon rock, at the request of the Biden Administration, from its Lunar, from the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Another moon rock collected by the Apollo 17 crew is currently on display inside the White House's Oval Office
The small boulder held by a metal clamp and encased in glass, sits located on a bookshelf that features items intended to remind Americans of the ambition and accomplishments of earlier generations
At the base of the structure is an inscription dedicated to the three men of the Apollo 17 mission, which was the last NASA astronauts to walk across the lunar surface.
Apollo 17 astronaut Ronald Evans and moonwalkers Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan, the last humans to set foot on the Moon, chipped this sample from a large boulder at the base of the North Massif in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, 3 km (almost 2 miles) from the Lunar Module,’ the inscription on the base reads.
‘This 332 gram piece of the Moon (less than a pound), which was collected in 1972, is a 3.9-billion-year-old sample formed during the last large impact event on the nearside of the Moon, the Imbrium Impact Basin, which is 1,145 km or 711.5 miles in diameter.’
During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan and Schmitt spent 22 hours on the moon’s surface in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead.
The team carried out a series of experiments including seismic profiling, atmospheric composition analysis and lunar sampling, and brought a few souvenirs home with them including the rock now showcased in the Oval Office.
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